The Quiet Coyote and Other Strange Spirits
by clockwork-faerie98
Summary: A series of 100-word, practice-my-writing-skills drabbles on the favorite get-the-kids-to-shut-up tool of teachers and camp counselors everywhere and all the other strange childhood stories that are out there. I wrote this because, hey, if there's one thing I believed in during childhood, it was the Quiet Coyote.
1. The Quiet Coyote

All around Camp Watatchee's annual campfire, children raised their hands in salute. Each had his two middle fingers pressed against his thumb, with his index and his pinky pointing straight up: the symbol of the Quiet Coyote.

Off in the shadows, a wolf-like creature gave a huge grin. "That's all me," he whispered proudly to the white-haired boy next to him, using a paw to gesture widely at the crowd of little hands raised in tribute.

The boy bit the inside of his cheek and conjured up miniature blizzards to amuse himself. "Right. And you are?"

"The Quiet Coyote."

"Right."


	2. Vaccinations

"Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you've got your cootie shot!" The little blonde giggled as she used her finger to draw the symbols on her best friend's arm.

"That's it? Now I won't get cooties?" the brunette asked, examining her arm. She'd been afraid that a cootie shot would hurt a lot more than that.

"Yep! Cootie-free!"

In the corner of the schoolyard, a buzzing arose from under one of the slides. A group of iridescent green winged insects, each about the size of a dime, buzzed angrily.

"Darn it," one hissed. "I do so hate when they get vaccinated."


	3. Starlight

"Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may I wish I might, get the wish I wish tonight." Lucy Banks sat at her window and squeezed her eyes shut, praying to the twinkling first star of night in the deep evening sky.

Millions of miles away, up among the starry sky, the first star of evening gave a small smile and flickered a little brighter, delighted at the little girl below.

"Oh, Lucy," she whispered softly. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I love you, darling, but…you live in an apartment. There's simply no room for a pony."


	4. A Cautionary Tale

"Jackson Matthew Wright! If you keep making that face, you'll freeze that way!"

Jackson didn't listen. He kept his face frozen all through supper, his eyes crossed, his nose scrunched, and his tongue rolled into a tube.

His mother ran her hands through her hair and gave an exasperated sigh. "Jackson…please…"

Jackson didn't listen. Still he kept making his face, eating his food through his rolled-up tongue.

A tiny, stick-thin little man in a pointed hat hopped onto the table and sighed guiltily. "Sorry, kid," he said, tapping Jackson on the nose. "But don't say your mother didn't warn you."

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**Hey guys!**

**To all the people who have read/commented/enjoyed these one-shots: thank you! It means so much to me to know that you're reading.**

**And a special thank-you to Paper Lily Webs-I think you've reviewed every chapter so far, which is sooooo amazing! I really appreciate it.**

**And now I have a challenge.**

**If YOU have a childhood myth/legend you believed in that you want me to turn into a guardian, lemme know! (Both in the comments and by PM!) It can be anything from a figure you believed in (for example, I'm thinking my next chapter will be about the infamous Toilet Monster) to a saying your mother told you (the green-eyed envy monster is also in the works.)**

**And once again, thank you so much for reading! As you can probably tell, I'm trying to write at least one one-shot a day, and I've got plenty of ideas, so...yeah! This might turn out to be a very long series thing...**

**Ciao!**


	5. The Left Ones

**Oh my god, I'm SO sorry this took so long! Life just got away from me and...yeah. Hopefully, I can update faster in the future.**

**Thank you to everyone who requested stories, I love ALL your great ideas and will try to use as many as possible! And to DreamerNumber3: thank you for your lovely suggestions! I used one here! Like it?**

* * *

"Margaret, can you please fold your laundry?" Margaret's mother called.

"Yes, Mommy!" the little girl cried, running to the laundry room. She didn't like chores, but she wasn't about to disobey. One by one, she folded her clothes into neat piles, until…

"Mommy, this sock is missing its friend!"

"That's alright, darling, just put it up on the washing machine and I'll take care of it later."

Dutifully, Margaret tossed the sock on the machine and ran off to play.

In the drier, a lint-shaped creature drew itself into a tight ball, begging not to be seen. It knew it shouldn't eat socks, but they just tasted so _good_.

Especially the left ones.

* * *

**Requests are STILL open, so if you guys have any characters you want me to use, just let me know! Otherwise, thanks, and please review!**


	6. Sidekicks

**Sorry it's been so long, guys! **

**This was inspired by IThinkInPoetry's suggestion of dust bunnies bugging Pitch while under a kid's bed. I tweaked it just a bit, but...hope you like it!**

**(P.S. I broke my rules. This one's about 200 words. Sorry 'bout that.)**

* * *

"Who the _hell _are you supposed to be?" Pitch Black sneered at the group of odd-looking objects before him.

"We're fears. Just like you." The giant spider who said this grinned through overly-large fangs.

"I am nothing like you."

"Yes! You are!" This was spoken by what looked to be a sheet of white paper with a large red 'F' on it. "I'm fear of a bad grade. She," he said, motioning toward the spider with one of his corners, "is fear of bugs. And that one," this time he gestured toward a DVD box with gruesome red lettering on the cover, "is Scary Movies."

"There's loads more of us," Scary Movies piped up.

"Well, why are you pestering _me? _I've work to do," Pitch growled irritably. The breathing of the child above was becoming ever more irregular, and Pitch could tell that she'd soon wake and he'd lose his chance.

"We want to help you out. Be your…you know. Sidekicks."

Pitch was about to growl something unspeakable back, but the last word made him freeze. Because if there was _one _thing in the world Pitch was truly terrified of, it was the prospect of being annoyed by creatures like _these _24/7.

"_Sidekicks?"_


	7. Revenge

**I know it took a while. I know. I hope it makes up for the time delay.**

* * *

"Leprechaun?" she screeched. _"Leprechaun?"_

The frosty-eyed boy shrugged, leaning casually on his staff. "Well, yeah. Lucky equals _leprechaun. Duh."_

"No," she hissed, her golden eyes burning into his. "Just…no. It's _Lady _Luck, got that? Not _leprechauns. _Not _Ireland. LUCK!"_

"Woah!" he chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "Calm down! No need to get your panties in a twist." He smirked, winked. "Well, I gotta bounce. See ya, Blondie."

With that, he turned on his heel and sauntered down the sidewalk. He didn't get far, though, before he skidded out on his own ice, landing hard on his butt.

Lady Luck smirked as she heard him fall. She chuckled as he cursed to himself. Because he'd made a _dumb_ decision getting on the bad side of Luck.

Revenge was going to be sweet.

* * *

**This one was suggested by Pursuer of Happyness. Thanks for the suggestion!**

**Also, to wynturkroh: Your idea was amazing! I am SO using it! I mean, if that's okay with you. (If it is, I'll try to post it soon. Maybe a couple days?)**

**To the guest that suggested the Legend of Sim Chung: I read the story, and it definitely has potential. I'm trying to think about how to work it into a story.**

**To everyone else: Thanks! I'm so glad you liked it!**


	8. All The Jacks

**Okay, so...I'm just gonna do away with the whole "word limit" thing on account of I think this is like the...third chapter where I've cheated? And I cheated BAD this time, guys.**

**So, yeah.**

* * *

"Grab his leg! No, not _that _leg! The _other _leg!"

"I've already got his arms! _You _grab his leg!"

"Shut _up, _the both of you! We're here now; just drop 'im!"

Jack Frost moaned as his eyes flickered open to blackness and snippets of heavily-accented voices broke through his daze. Something scratchy, almost burlap in feel, surrounded his head and was tied loosely around his neck. He hissed in pain as he was dropped on the hard floor with a _thud_.

The burlap sack was whipped from his head, letting in blinding light that stung his eyes. He blinked blearily, propping himself up on one arm to gawk at the three boyish faces blinking down at him.

"Frost!" they cried in unison, delighted.

The first one, a short brunette in tattered, scorched leggings and a singed cotton shirt, helped him to his feet, giving a toothy grin. His heels were covered in soot and looked more than a little burnt, but he didn't seem to mind.

"C'mon, Frost, have a seat. It's _great _ta see ya!" He plopped Jack Frost into a rough wooden seat at an even rougher wooden table.

"What're you…" Jack started, but the boys didn't let him finish.

"Oi, Horner," said one with a distinctly Irish accent. "You get the food, I'll shuffle." The speaker was wielding a rough sword, inlaid with gold, strapped round his waist, along with two bulging sacks of coins that clanked as he walked. His freckled cheeks were smudged with dirt and suspiciously large green leaves were twined into his messy blonde curls. He was strangely tall and lanky, but like the others, he too displayed a huge, childish grin.

The third and final poured mysterious amber liquid from a flask into cracked glasses, sliding one to each of those seated at the table. When Jack sniffed his suspiciously, Horner rolled his eyes. "Oi, don't be like that. It's not _real _ale. Mother Goose wouldn't let us have any." He sighed disappointedly. "It's just ginger beer."

Jack Frost took a sniff. "It's not…poisoned or anything?"

The singed brunette gave him an annoyed glare. "Whut're you askin' that fer? We're yer _friends_, Frost. Do ya _really _think we'd try n' poison a friend?"

"Is that a trick question?"

This was met with an uproar of laughter from around the table. "Ye're good, Frost! Just as good as we remembered!" This came from Horner who, now that Jack noticed, had thumbs stained a deep plum-color.

Jack sighed, slouching further in his seat. "What'm I doing here, then? And where's my staff?"

"_Poker night!" _the boys chorused gleefully. They followed this up with a round of high-fives, fist bumps, and one awful-looking wedgie.

"_Poker _night? That was next weekend!"

"No, Frost," the blonde sighed, dealing the cards, "That was two weeks ago. Mim's Pep Squad's been keeping you so busy that you've forgotten."

The singed brunette pouted. "We 'aven't been able to play!" he wailed.

Jack Frost rolled his eyes. "Oh, _come on, _Nimble. It's not that hard to play poker with three." He cracked a grin. "Why, I'll bet that even _you _can manage it."

Nimble glared, but this time, it was Horner who spoke up. "Nimble and Beanpole are right, Frost. Can't play cards without all four Jacks."

Jack groaned. "Oh, God, guys. There are _hundreds _of other Jacks."

"Couldn't find none," Nimble pouted.

"What about Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds?"

Beanpole winced. "Awful stuck-up pricks, they are. Think they're _sooo_ special, just because they've got their own trading cards…"

"O'Lantern?"

Horner gave a little whimper and Nimble patted him comfortingly on the back. "We don't like to talk about him no more, not after the…_accident._"

Jack groaned. "Well, what about Jack-of-All-Trades?" he cried, tossing his pale hands up in the air. "Surely _he'd _play with you?"

Horner shook his head solemnly. "Naw. He's rubbish. That thing they say 'bout 'Jack of all trades, master of none' is true, you know."

"Oh, _come on, _Frost!" Beanpole cried, pressing his hands together pleadingly. "Right now, you're being a Jack-_ass. _All we're asking for is _one measly game."_

Jacks sighed and slouched in his seat, defeated. "All right. Fine. One game. And then you give me back my staff, _capice_?"

"Oh, fine, fine," Horner waved his purple hand dismissively. "So long as you win."

"Yeah!" Beanpole cried. "We'll give it up when you win!"

Nimble chuckled behind a sooty hand. "So, never, then?"

Jack shot him a devilish grin. "Oh, it's _on."_

* * *

**Well...you like it? And, as extra special bonus points, how many Jacks did you get? I'm thinking...ten? (Though that's probably wrong; I didn't really count). At any rate, it's all the Jacks I could come up with.**

**Special thanks to wynturkroh, whose plot bunny spawned this little ficlet. Hope you like it!**


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